Mercurial
by KennaBay
Summary: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED ENDGAME! She crashed into them, quite literally. Now this Cadet Pilot has more on her hands than she can handle, but she's not alone. Who's that voice in her head? / Mix of Romance, Angst and Humor / ThorxOCxSteveRogers Slowburn (UPDATED WEEKLY)
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

"Pilot, return to base. I repeat, Pilot return to base."

With her senses on edge, her grip over the yoke tightened, and she squinted at the blinding light. The noise filtered through the noise-cancelling headset, the engine roaring against her; something wasn't right and she should turn around, but she couldn't.

"I repeat, turn around Pilot." The sense of urgency in the flight instructor's voice increased.

"I can't, Officer, it's pulling me."

"What is pulling you Pilot? I said turn around, it's an order!"

"I'm trying to!" Panic was filtering through the headset communication system, while she desperately pulled at the aircraft's controls. "This plane is not moving! Not one bit!"

"Turn around, final warning!"

But she knew better; there was no way she was getting out of this one, not this time. Whatever the light's source was, it wielded some form of control on the plane, its trajectory set by it. She was flying straight to the light, and there was no stopping now, not when she was this close.

"PILO…"

High pitched static filled her ears and she winced at the invasive noise, momentarily closing her eyes. But when she opened them again all she saw was a bright orange shimmer amidst the darkness. Eyes widened, she observed through the window at the space surrounding her. What was this? Turning around so she was perched upon the back of the aircraft's seat she tried to see where the darkness begun, or even ended, but there was nothing. Just darkness and shimmer, a contradiction on its own.

With a quick shake of the head, she came back to the control panel and tried to make sense of her situation. The controls were unresponsive, nothing was working, not even the altimeter. And her breath became quickened, struggling to keep the air in. This was not good, not good at all. Focusing on the horizon, " _or at least where the horizon would be_ ", she started the countdown. Six, five, four, three, two, one. Taking a paused breath in, she felt the fog in her mind retreating until it was her own again.

Her eyes found something she could not identify in the horizon, small points, like stars. But these stars did not emit any light at all, they were blank and devoid of any colour whatsoever.

" _Those aren't stars_ "

Bodies were floating through the shimmer, thousands, millions. Billions. Who knows. A mass devoid of life. She tried to maneuver the aircraft around them, but the controls remained unresponsive. When the bodies started hitting the plane she shut her eyes and winced. But she felt nothing. Slowly peeking through her eyelids she found the bodies parted around her vessel like water. She started wondering if this was the Acheron river, if this was her way to the afterlife, and started to rummage through her pockets for a coin to pay the ferrier. Finding nothing, she chastised herself for being so stupid. Had she been safe she would have been sitting by the banks of the infernal river, but she was floating through it, alone with no guide. But there were no banks in sight, or any indication of the river's end for that matter. Just as she was preparing to lose her remaining sanity, she locked eyes with one of them.

Pressing herself against the other side of the cockpit, she maintained eye contact with him, observing until the body floated away like all the others. That's where she saw the end, where the shimmer was the strongest and the nothingness of space didn't conquer anymore. Straight where she was headed.

In her last second of conscience, she was once again blinded by a light stronger than the first one, and felt her eyes roll to the back of her head through her closed eyelids.

* * *

 _Words in italics represent thoughts._

 _Feedback is loved and appreciated, unlike almost every character in the Infinity War's finale._


	2. Chapter 1 - Awaken

She woke up violently shaken, with loud beeping noises as her welcome. She could feel the restrictions of the harness cutting through the uniform's jacket from the effort of keeping her on the seat. The drowsiness was refusing to let her mind go, but the sense of impending danger woke her up. It took her a tenth of a second to realize that she was still on the plane, one that was still on the air. " _But not for long_ ".

Gripping the aircraft's yoke, she pulled it closer in an effort to gain altitude, but it was futile. The ground would be soon closing in, and she had to think fast. Quickly scanning the surroundings, she tried to find a relatively safe place to crash-land, but it was all jungle. Looking back on her short previous training, she made a decision. This was always what she struggled with the most, failing most simulations. She had to bail out.

" _Calm down and count, it's all in the practice._ "

Practice that she had failed again and again. But it was her life on the line, and doing nothing meant failure already. She had to take her chances, as limited as they were. Glancing at the altimeter she almost let out a stifled cry when she found it still wasn't working. She would have to estimate the altitude of the aircraft, one that was quickly but steadily descending. It was already difficult enough knowing the exact height already, and now she was on her own. Had she been good with calculations, she would have calculated the probability of living through this, but she comforted herself in her lack of knowledge. Which wasn't beneficial either, as she could have used that skill to increase her chance of survival.

She made a decision, she was going to wing it. " _Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One._ " Slamming the button, her seat ejected from the aircraft. Although it wouldn't help in her favor, she momentarily shut her eyes and pressed her lips. The concussion from the whiplash numbed her senses and she drifted through the air with no control. She would soon be on the ground, dead or alive.

With a loud thud, the seat tumbled through the ground, aggravating her already unstable condition. She soon found herself pressed against the dirt of the jungle floor, face down, with the weight of the aircraft seat upon her. Struggling to find the safety belt's buckles, she began to work steadily through them to set her body free. Her torso liberated, the remaining parts of her body softly hit the ground. She was ready to push the seat apart when she felt the vibration of quick and heavy steps. Raising her head, she looked at the scene unveiling in front of her.

She was surrounded by silhouettes she couldn't clearly define, her vision blurry. It seemed like they were talking to her, but she could barely make the words out from the buzz she was hearing. Raising her hands above her shoulders, she signaled her ears and tried to speak through the coarseness of her throat.

"I can't hear you." She could barely hear herself either, and hoped what she was saying was clear enough for them.

Two of the figures closed in on her, and grabbed her arms, pressing them on her back and pinning her aching body on the ground after pulling her out from under the seat. She felt the restrictions closing in on her wrists, and was soon put on her feet. Shaking under her weight, she leaned her body against one of her restrictors, which in turn pushed her down and adopted a defensive stance. She heard loud mumbling again, and felt someone lift her off the ground.

She was being carried somewhere, God knew where.

* * *

Leaning against the wall, she pressed the palm of her hands against the cold floor. They were talking to her, or at least trying to. One of the men, the one in uniform, got closer to her, and she tried looking for a name tape but found nothing. He couldn't be from the military then. Focusing on his face she read his lips. Her name, he wanted her name. Lifting her hands from the ground, she signaled to her own name tape.

"Bellamy. Maggie Bellamy."

He nodded and looked to his companions, one of them scurried to a tablet and began to run things through. The blonde woman shook her head and turned to the man that was kneeling before her. He ran his hand through his beard and locked eyes with her again. He repeated his question.

"It's Maggie Bellamy, Margaret-Grace Bellamy if you want to get technical."

She was sure they were trying to run her through the system, and maybe her full name would help. But the woman shook her head again, and she started feeling nervous. She got closer to her, and held the tablet to her face for a couple of seconds. Pacing away, she waited for a moment and shook her head once again. She felt the tension rising in the room. One of the other men pushed through and gestured for her to stand up. With help from the two men, she was led to another room, one that resembled a medical examination one, and was pressed against the stretcher laying in the middle. As soon as her body laid upon it, a machine blocked her vision and she felt a force restrain her against the surface. She soon felt the pressure dissipate from her mind, and started to breathe normally again. With a small pitch, her ear canals unblocked and she could hear the soft humming of the machine. She must have been laying there for a couple of minutes, peacefully letting the machine work, when it beeped and retired from her frame.

Her upper body rising from the stretcher, she leaned on her shoulders and turned her head to focus on the people that had previously found her. The bearded man stood forward and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Now that you can hear us " he paused and looked intently at her, squinting his eyes "who are you and where do you come from?"

* * *

 _Got excited with the reviews and published the next chapter already. The next one should be uploaded by Friday, but I might get too excited again and post it before._

 _Feedback is loved and appreciated, it fills the void Infinity War has left._


	3. Chapter 2 - Judgement

Glaring with confusion at the man in front of her, she let out an annoyed huff. She was pretty sure they had seen her aircraft crash, it is hard to miss a plane, no matter how small, going adrift so close to the ground. And she had already given them her name. On the other hand, she would probably be nervous as well if an unidentified aircraft crashed into her area.

"I know you have some form of military training, your uniform gives it away"

Furrowing her brows, she scanned the room. There were three men and a woman, all of them staring at her with varying degrees of curiosity and suspicion. Maggie pushed her legs over the edge of the stretcher and observed she was feeling much better, as if she hadn't been ejected from a plane. She pushed her hair behind her ears and sighed.

"It is obvious you are in the Air Force." One of the other men spoke, leaning over to his side to look at her shoulder. "A Cadet judging from your rank insignia." He shuffled his weight from one of his legs to the other, and Maggie noticed he had some sort of metallic structure supporting him. "But that wasn't a military aircraft, and they don't let your rank fly on their own so soon."

"I know." She nudged the jacket off and laid it over her lap. "A friend has- had a plane. I was borrowing it."

"Borrowing a plane? What for?" the first man threw her a look of disbelief.

"To gain experience, I was tired of the flight simulator." They stared at her as if they were expecting her to go on. "I need flight hours, even if they're from a different plane. I asked for extra help to one of the instructors and they offered this alternative."

"And why would you need the extra help?"

She looked at the ceiling and tried to remain calm. She had just been in an aircraft accident, drifted through a formless space, and almost died. A formless space. Her eyes widened and the air got caught up in her throat. She had almost forgotten, she was too preoccupied with surviving. But the woman interrupted her train of thought.

"How is it that there is no record of you then? If you were really part of the Air Force there would be a file."

"There is a file."

"Where?"

"There should be a file." Maggie lowered her head in defeat. She did not know how to explain the situation to herself, let alone strangers.

"Not even face recognition worked, it's as if you never existed." She paused and picked the tablet again, showing it to her. "As far as we're concerned, you don't exist."

She felt the edge of a panic attack, the bile making its way up. This couldn't be possible, she had been part of the training program of the Armed Forces for the past year, ever since she turned eighteen. She had a social security number, a driver's license, she was even registered to vote. There had to be some sort of trace.

"Nat, let's take a step back." The bearded man looked at her with tired eyes. "If she doesn't want to speak, let her be. We have other things to worry about for now."

"She could be related to the stones, Steve. We all saw the light explosion after… after... " she struggled to get the words out. "And then she appeared out of nowhere. I watched the surveillance videos, went through all the systems, it didn't even record her presence before the explosion."

"As if she had appeared out of thin air." One of the men that helped carry her to this room spoke. "And that's just not possible. She wasn't discovered until after the power surge from the stones."

"What should we do then?"

"Not sure, but we shouldn't leave her here alone." He turned to the other man and whispered loudly. "She could have answers."

* * *

They were kind enough to let her rest for a while before coming to interrogate her again. Although she suspected this gesture wasn't all about kindness and more about them having other priorities. She hadn't been alone though, as another armored woman was assigned to keep an eye on her. Maggie had enough time to wash her face with cold water, hoping it would give her clarity and some sense of anchorage in reality. But she still couldn't make sense of what had happened. How do you appear and reappear in a different airspace? Scratch that, how does one pass out while flying and still remain on the air? There were too many questions going around her head, and she decided the only logical response to the situation. Hierarchy.

Putting her questions in order, she decided that the most pressing issue was to figure out where she was. Then, if the orange place really existed or was a figment of her imagination. Probably the latter. And finally, how she got there.

"Stand."

She was guided through corridors and passages until they arrived at a spacious room filled with people. She noticed that most of them wore beautiful elaborate clothes, of some sort of tribal design she had not seen before. The ones who had previously interrogated her stood aside, solemnly awaiting until she stood in the middle of the room. Once she reached it, another armored woman came to stand at her side, and she suddenly felt as small as one could feel. This was a hearing, and judging by the atmosphere of the room, one that wasn't in her favor.

"Who are you?" An elegant woman gestured to her to speak.

"I am Maggie Bellamy, Cadet of the U.S. Air Force."

"And what is your business in Wakanda?"

"Where?" Geography wasn't exactly her forte, but she was sure she'd never heard anything about a Wakanda before.

She heard some shuffling as people leaned in to whisper to each other. Granted she was only nineteen, but at that moment she felt like a child. Unrest was growing throughout the room, and Maggie couldn't bear to be at the center of it. The weight on her shoulders suddenly doubled when she heard the woman accuse her.

"You enter Wakanda's airspace, appearing in a civilian's aircraft but wearing a military uniform." She paused, evaluating her. "With no trace of you or your plane before the… explosion." It seemed like this was hard for the woman as well. "Where do you come from?"

"The United States of America."

"No." Her impatience was growing. "Where were you before you crashed into us? You appeared from the skies, out of nowhere."

Maggie found herself at a crossroads. She could speak about her vision in orange, explain that she had some sort of hallucination and found herself here. Maybe crossed some sort of wormhole. No, those only showed in space. She could barely make sense of what had happened to her, how was she supposed to explain it to others? Nervously evaluating the scene before her she found that telling the truth, or at least _her_ truth, would be the best.

"I… I'm not sure." Trying to order her thoughts again, she slowly inhaled. "I was out with my flight instructor, getting more experience flying solo. I… I don't know where it came from but there was suddenly some sort of… orb?" She questioned herself, then shook her head. "No, just some bright light. It took control of the plane's trajectory, like it had its own gravitational pull. I couldn't change direction, or try and land, so I just flew into it." She couldn't judge by the look on their faces if they believed her or not. "I'm not entirely sure of what really happened after that, I was drifting through space. At least I thought it was." She quickly decided against mentioning the floating bodies. "I passed out, and when I woke up my plane was losing altitude and I… crashed."

She expected the room to be completely silent after her revelation, but a buzz of words suddenly erupted from all corners. Everyone was embroiled in a conversation. Scratching her forearm, Maggie's eyes wandered throughout the people, taking in their reactions. Some disbelief, some mockery, some… compassion? Did anyone really believe her? Her story was absurd, they should have taken her for either crazy or a liar. But she saw their eyes, some of them wanted to believe her.

The woman who seemed in charge sat down upon what appeared to be a throne and with a dismissive gesture she spoke.

"Although your story is… compelling" she raised her eyebrows, and Maggie feared this foreshadowed something bad. "There is no substantial proof you exist, ghost."

With that, the women standing guard beside her took her by the arms and pulled her towards the door. Maggie started to panic, struggling to find a way to prove to these people she meant no harm, her breath caught as her throat started to close in. In her state of distress, time slowed down enough for her to remember something.

"My phone!" She exclaimed, almost shrieking. "I have pictures!"

* * *

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts on how the story is progressing.

Going to watch Infinity War again tonight so I can refresh my mind, and also because I'm a masochist.

The next chapter will be uploaded at the beginning of the next week.


	4. Chapter 3 - Radiation

"I don't know, maybe it has no battery."

"No, that's not it." Taking off his glasses he rubbed his tired eyes and exhaled. "It appears to be radiation."

The man had introduced himself as Doctor Bruce Banner, one of the men in her initial interrogation. He was working on her phone, or at least retrieving the information inside it. At risk of sounding like a typical millennial, her whole life was inside the device, and maybe her captors would accept the evidence as proof that she wasn't some sort of spy, that she was just a normal person with a normal life. After all, sometimes strange things happen to average people, so her strange travel experience must have not been entirely her fault. At least she thought so.

Doctor Banner put her phone on a tray and began to run some sort of analysis, frowning here and there with each beep of the machinery. She was still escorted by the two women which she suspected to be guards, but the others had disappeared as soon as they left her on the doctor's care. She was waiting impatiently, biting the inside of her cheeks while her nervous eyes scanned the man's changing expressions. Until he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh no." He jumped back from her phone, almost dropping the tray where it was laying, and wildly gestured at her captors. "Get away from her!"

The guards took a quick step back while raising their weapons at her again. She pulled her hands over her head with a monotone demeanor, she seemed to get caught in this position quite often. " _What now?_ ". Doctor Banner rummaged through the drawers until he found what he was apparently looking for and threw the object at her.

"Catch it." The order came too late, but Maggie caught it regardless, weighing it between her fingers. It was relatively small but considerably heavy, and she noticed that it was some kind of digital device. "Can you read me the number it shows?" She complied, her intuition kicking at her mind. She knew what this was.

"The levels of radiation are outstanding." She threw the device back at him and he plugged it into a computer, admiring whatever feedback it was giving him back. "It's the same kind of energy we received from Loki's scepter, from the Tesseract, from- you get it." He carried on sharing his thoughts out loud, while the guards looked at each other.

"She should be isolated." The one closest to her suggested, which sounded more like a command. "She is a risk."

"No- see that's where you got it wrong." He laughed knowingly, like the whole situation was amusing to him. "This type of radiation, it's on a whole nother level. It doesn't propagate, it stays contained." He smiled at her, the first genuine smile she had received since she crashed in this mysterious place; although she suspected this was closer to scientific achievement than personal affection. Still, she would take it. "She doesn't present a threat, at least not contamination-wise."

"She is still an unidentified invader, trespassing on our land; so she's under our laws, Doctor." Maggie knew where she was getting to, and resigned herself to maintain her silence. "We will be the ones to decide whether or not she's a threat."

"No- yes- I understand what you mean." The man excused himself. "What I meant to say is that she's safe to be around, no need for a quarantine."

"And my phone?" Maggie quipped. "You can still see what's inside my phone, right?"

The three of them turned sharply to look at her, as if she wasn't allowed to make any kind of remarks. But it was her reputation, her life on the line, and she could care less about scepters and radiation, she wanted to untangle herself from this mess and come back home. However far that was now.

* * *

After a refreshing shower and a change of clothes, Maggie started to feel grounded again. The black pants and t-shirt were comfortable and breathable against her skin, and she quietly thanked whoever was listening that she no longer had to wear restrictions. The light breeze that filtered through the window was working wonders when it came to calming her nerves; but the room was still small, and she still felt trapped. In any other situation it would have been fine, but she knew her status was not that of a guest, and that was what was driving her up the walls.

Banner had talked of some sort of self-contained radiation, and she knew that nothing reacted well to any type of radiation, self-contained or not. Was she dying? She felt fine. She had examined herself after the shower and she hadn't found anything out of order. She was still the same, some cuts and bruises, but no strange glow or third arm.

"Bellamy." The blonde woman interrupted her musings, this time with a more open attitude. "There's good news and bad news." She gestured for her to follow.

"Are the bad ones really bad?"

She smirked, entertained, and guided her back to the grand room her previous trial had been hosted at. It was filled with people again, but no new faces from what she recalled. Except for one. There was a girl standing next to the woman she thought was in charge; she was elegantly dressed as well, but carried herself in a different manner. As if the whole weight of the world was on her shoulders. When she saw her she gave Maggie a lopsided smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Cadet Bellamy." The woman she had learned was a queen spoke to her. "We have reviewed the evidence you have provided, and determine this to be a… delicate situation."

No shit, it only took her half a minute to arrive to that conclusion. She stood her ground and looked back at her, expecting her to go on. But the girl carried on where the queen had left it.

"We have seen the pictures, the videos, your messages- everything, and your version is supported." Here's where the bad news came in, she knew it. "But there's a problem with it."

"What problem could there be, you said my story was corroborated?"

"Yes, but the issue is…" The girl trailed off, and evaluated her through squinted eyes, as if she was really interested in what her reaction would be. "Those people, the people in your phone, they don't exist exactly."

At first Maggie wasn't sure she had heard right, but when realisation dawned on her, the room froze. She lost all awareness of her surroundings, her mind too occupied with trying to make sense of what was just said. She doesn't exist, her family and friends don't exist… who exists then? What did they mean they do not exist?

"At first we believed your phone was part of your cover-up, but no one has gone to the lengths you've gone to devise a fake life, which raises many more questions." Maggie decided to interrupt the queen there.

"What do you mean they don't "exist exactly"?"

They seemed taken back by her interruption, either because of what she had decided to focus on or the impatient and demanding tone of her question.

"Those people do exist, _have_ existed." Have? "But none of them have the names you gave them, most of them do not even have any relation between them."

"Can I- I just need a glass of water." She was having trouble articulating any words at all, let alone organizing her thoughts. She needed to leave her mind blank for a minute, maybe two or three.

The girl passed her a glass filled to the brim with liquid, which she downed slowly, closing her eyes. Maggie let the sensation wash her down and run through her body when she realised that the cup wasn't filled with water. It was some sort of infusion or tea, but it was cold. She passed the glass back to the girl and she took it with a kind smile.

Maggie suddenly noticed that everyone was quiet, expectant maybe, as they were looking intently at her.

"Shuri, you can proceed." The queen indicated.

The girl, whose name she had finally learned, stood in front of her and began to repeat the questions they had previously asked her.

"Short answers, please." She indicated. "Who are you?"

"Maggie Bellamy"

"Who do you work for?"

"I'm a Cadet at the U.S. Air Force."

"Are the people on your phone your friends and family?"

"Yes." She almost interrupted the girl this time. Of course they were.

"Is all the information you have given us about how you got here true?"

"Yes."

"Have you come here as a threat, with intention to hurt us?"

Maggie furrowed her brows, offended. "Of course not."

"Well then." This time the smile reached her eyes and she turned to speak to who she deduced was her mother. "She speaks truthfully."

The crowd murmured positively with themselves as if they finally believed her, and for the first time, she noticed the atmosphere surrounding her relax.

"I mean to cause no offence, Queen Ramonda." The bearded man, Steve, stepped up. "How can we trust what she said? I do not mean to doubt your people's myths, but how do we know that plant really worked?"

What plant? What were they going on about now?

"Because it is not just a story we tell our children, the plant's infusion separates the liars from the honest."

"We measured the effects of it on our lab." Shuri explained. "The venom only kicks in when the heart rate and breathing increases, which normally happens when people are lying. If she wasn't telling the truth she would be on the ground dying right now."

She raised her hand against the left side of her chest, feeling a pang that took her breath away. Did they just poison her? Maggie felt the beginning of a panic attack build up and she stared wide-eyed at the girl. And she noticed. She immediately rushed to her side and helped her lie down on the ground.

"Shuri." The queen reprimanded. "You should have waited until she was back in her room."

"I know, mother." At least she wasn't left alone in her state of panic, the girl was as well. "I didn't think of it." She turned to her and hurriedly gave her instructions. "You need to relax, bring your heart rate down. Come on, breathe with me."

She started demonstrating, but Maggie couldn't focus for her life. Her eyes darted throughout the room, failing to focus on anything, and the sides of her vision started to turn black. These people had just poisoned her.

* * *

 _Let me know what you think of this chapter, like where the story's going?_

 _The Avengers will begin to play a more important role in the next chapter._


	5. Chapter 4 - I always come back

It had been a week and a half and Maggie had been trying to adapt to her new environment. This had proven difficult, since she had learned they were mourning. Everybody had lost someone they loved in what seemed like a catastrophic cosmic event. Nobody gave her the full version, but she gathered some details here and there and began to piece together what had happened before her arrival. She wanted to mourn as well, the loss of her previous life and how everything she knew and held dear had crumbled, but she felt her sadness would be deemed an offense and decided not to show it. Maggie had been on autopilot for the past days, freezing her thoughts about what had happened. She didn't want to make sense of her situation, at least not yet. She was lost.

People had started warming up to her, especially Shuri and Bruce, who were helping her try to grasp what her new life would be like. She was still met with suspicion, but she figured this would never really go away and decided not to let it bother her, at least not too much. What was really troubling her was the lack of rest she was getting at night. She had been dreaming about the orange abyss consistently, every night; and she was sure she was talking with someone, but she didn't know who.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Huh?"

Bruce sat in front of her with two dishes filled with food, pushing one of them towards her. Maggie eyed the dish and mentally agreed with herself that she could never grow tired of this food.

"I was just zoning out, you know?" She grabbed a bite and didn't wait to properly chew to speak again. "You?"

He squinted at her and reprimanded her lack of manners with a look. "Preparing the next trial, we're having some difficulties."

"What kind of difficulties?"

"Not everyone agrees with you being our guinea pig."

She knew who Bruce meant by "everyone". It was Steve, the Captain. He had made sure to keep his distance with her, and although he wasn't rude, she knew this wasn't out of kindness.

"So what? I agree, and Shuri and you agree. Who else do we need, you're the ones doing the trials." She paused and evaluated his response. "If I'm a guinea pig that's entirely my business."

With a soft smile, the same kind her mentor used to give her, he continued eating.

"How's it going with Shuri?" Maggie knew it was a challenging time for her as next in line to the throne of Wakanda, after her brother's death.

"Well, not everyone is agreeing on that matter either. What do you think?"

"Nice girl, lots of potential." She munched at the piece of bread. "Never agreed with monarchies though."

"I guess it's a bit more complicated than that." He almost chastised her.

Maggie furrowed her brows and picked at the remaining of the loaf of bread. She had never been interested in politics, and foreign politics seemed even more complicated for that matter. She figured that she wasn't in the position to give her opinion, as she didn't know enough to have a valid one. However, deep in her heart, she felt sorry for Shuri; the kid had just lost her brother, and now this enormous responsibility rested on her shoulders.

"Anyways, back to the trials." With a full stomach, she leaned against the backrest of the chair. "Anything interesting? Worth sharing?"

"Apart from the radiation levels, everything is normal. Your blood, tissues, brain scans… everything came back normal." Bruce smiled with amusement. "You're just a typical Plain Jane."

"Gee, thanks Doc." Eyes widened with superficial sarcasm, she picked up the plate and prepared to leave the room.

"I meant," he quickly backed up "morphologically speaking."

She directed a final smile at him and proceeded to head back to her quarters.

* * *

"Try to relax, your heart rate is about to go through the roof."

Maggie gripped at the controls and tried to stabilize the aircraft. They were testing a new simulation, a project in the works that would make space travel faster and easier, and she had the honor to try it out. The difficult part of the prototype would be to correctly connect her "brain" to the command board, so Shuri had thrown her into the dark room and connected her to the simulator while she perfected her calculations. Bruce was also helping, although the girl's territorialism over her workspace reduced him to more of a supervisor.

"I don't get it, why does this thing have a steering wheel if I'm driving it with my mind?" Maggie shuffled through the space dumpster, trying not to hit any rocks.

"Because your mind is still connected to your body." Her voice resonated through the headset. "It's complicated, but it grounds you. If you were to pilot it just with your mind it would feel like you're dreaming, and you'd lose your sense of reality. This way you won't crash."

"Got it."

She was carefully dodging the pieces in her trajectory when a loud noise jerked her and she lost control of the aircraft. Maggie felt a wave of electricity run through her body when she hit a piece of space debris in the simulation. Losing control, she was spinning in the darkness of space, lights flashing in a strobe-like manner. She had to close her eyes in order to avoid throwing up her previous lunch. When the room lit up again and the images disappeared, meaning the trial had abruptly stopped, she took off the seat harness and exited the room.

"What the hell, man, I almost-" She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the scene unfolding in front of her eyes.

Steve was fuming, a look of authority and determination across his face, while Natasha stood by his side almost emotionless. Maggie was sure this, somehow, had to do with her. It always seemed to be her, like her sole presence was the reason behind his eternal scowl. And that irritated her to no end.

"I told you, Banner. No, I warned you. This crosses the line."

"She is a cadet of the US Air Force, Captain, she is more than prepared to continue her training." It seemed like Colonel Rhodes was on her side for once. "And weren't you just a cadet when you took your first steps towards being the symbol of a nation?"

"That's not what this is about, we agreed she would be kept away from these trials."

"No, you _commanded_ she would not participate, no one came to an agreement."

The men fulminated each other with their eyes. She knew that this confrontation was superficial, that all of them held each other in high esteem, but she also knew that there was an underlying issue she was not aware of yet. And whatever it was, that old wound was causing rifts in what could be a perfectly working engine.

"Well, let's come to an agreement now then." Steve avoided looking at her. "She should stay out of these trials, and you" he pointed at the Colonel "should take her place. After all, you're the real pilot here."

"What is your problem, Steve?" Bruce blurted out.

"Why are you defending her Banner?" he retorted.

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps because I know what it's like to wake up in a different world and everything be hostile towards you?" Maggie's brows raised at his revelation, and she made a mental note to ask him later about it. "And you of all people should too."

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence before Steve broke it again.

"We're not letting a kid in."

"Why not? You let Wanda in, and she literally worked with Nazis." an audible gasp was heard, although she wasn't sure who made it. And Maggie could not help but try to shy away from the whole confrontation by opening her mouth.

"Loooots of pent-up anger." She muttered drifting as she moved towards the exit.

The Captain finally looked at her and although she could see anger in his eyes, she noticed a spark of something else hidden away. Remorse, tiredness… fear?

"And you've seen how that's ended. You've seen what has happened when you put too much weight on young shoulders." Steve looked back at Bruce as he lowered his voice and let the confrontational tone fall. " _We_ " he emphasized, "won't be responsible for another young man's grave."

He left the room, followed by the Widow, as everyone looked away uncomfortably. And in that moment, Maggie realized that perhaps she had judged the Captain wrong.

* * *

"Look at the bright side," Shuri tried to cheer her up as she headed back to her room "if they don't want you to be part of their group you don't need a ridiculous superhero name anymore. Can you imagine?"

Although Maggie was sure that she would never be a part of their team, and even less in just two weeks, the lack of acceptance did hurt her. She had always longed to be part of something greater, and this had felt like her chance to prove herself. Besides, there must have been some sort of ulterior motive to her arrival if she literally fell from the sky to them. But in the bottom of her soul she felt unprepared, unfit, undeserving. She was simply not ready.

"At first we thought you were an alien, so what could it be then? Supernova? Meteorite?"

"Space Trash?" she interrupted the girl.

They stared at each other for a second before erupting in laughter, and Maggie's heart felt a little bit lighter from all the sadness she was being sucked in.

"Listen," she put her hand on her shoulder "I don't care about them, you're fun to be around and I'm happy you're here."

Maggie's smile reached her eyes and she raised her hand to lightly squeeze hers back. "Thanks, Princess."

"Get some rest."

She closed the door behind her and got ready to have a small refreshing nap. Getting into bed, it took no longer than a couple of minutes for her to fall asleep and drift into the orange abyss she had been constantly dreaming of. She would make sure to remember this time, she couldn't forget again what happened when she was in the vastless space. Maggie was just floating through the mist, a weightless sensation upon her body. She did enjoy the feeling of carelessness whenever she visited the place, but felt something creeping up, something that was hidden, that she couldn't see but she could feel.

"Oh, I didn't know if you'd come back."

Maggie turned around and smiled at him, waving her hand dismissively.

"I always come back, Peter."

* * *

Thanks everyone for the lovely reviews! It's been busy, but the next chapter will be uploaded later on towards the end of the week.

Let me know your thoughts!


	6. Chapter 5 - Coronation

Maggie woke up gently, for the first time in God knows how long. Her eyes fluttered open and raising her hands above her head she stretched. She had a pleasant dream, that she was sure of. What she had dreamt of she did not know. Her breathing was steady, as was her heartbeat. Light was filtering through the open windows, the sound of life from the outside calling out to her.

"Oh shit."

Struggling with the tangled up bedsheet, she finally pulled away from the bed and ran through her bedroom door to sprint down the corridors. She couldn't believe she was missing this. It all seemed deserted, and she knew exactly why.

"Shuri!" Out of breath, she reached the girl before she stepped out through the main doors of the palace.

"Maggie." She welcomed her, and eyed her up and down when she noticed she was out of breath. "Were you working out?"

She looked at her clothes, black joggers and a plain white t-shirt, and smiled apologetically.

"No, I was sleeping."

"In sports clothes? Didn't you see the pajamas?"

"I don't believe in pajamas."

"What do you mean you don't believe in-"

"Listen." She interrupted her friend, a sense of urgency in her voice. But she was out of words and did not know what to say, not even what she _wanted_ to say.

"I am."

"You know, they usually say 'good luck', but that's not it." Pursing her lips, Maggie quickly exhaled and looked directly into her eyes. "Be smart, play smart, think smart. Do what it takes to win. I'll be waiting for you at the lab, so come back."

The girl let the air she didn't know she was holding and nodded her head, either in acknowledgment or agreement, and they gave each other a silent goodbye. There was nothing Maggie could do except offering her friendship and encouraging words; she couldn't fight other people's battles and even less when these held a deep cultural meaning. Shuri, as the next in line, was about to be part of a sacred coronation ritual, in which she would have to defeat any challengers that may arise in order to defend her birthright to rule. And she was just a kid. Hell, Maggie was a couple of years older than her and she couldn't see herself being a victor in that situation.

Shuri gave her one last warm smile, trying to keep the nervousness under control, and nodded again. She knew her friend wanted to say something back, but she was struggling to find the right words under the uneasiness she was feeling. It was an important day for Shuri, and she wasn't ready for it. And after what had happened with her brother's death, she was even less prepared. She wasn't in the right state of mind or heart, and Maggie wasn't sure if that would play to her advantage or disadvantage.

Heading towards the common room, she found the rest of Wakanda's guests that were not allowed at the ceremony. Picking up a plate and filling it up with fruit, she sat down next to Bruce as he focused on his tablet, scanning through the information. She gave a quick look around the room, and noticed in the atmosphere that yesterday's outburst at the simulation center was still fresh on people's minds. She locked eyes with Steve for a couple of seconds before looking away. His face was unreadable, she wasn't sure if he was still mad at her or not. She decided it must be the first. Pinching Bruce on the arm, she pointed her finger at the screen he was holding.

"What's that?"

"Damage control." He sighed and took off his glasses. "Normally Tony would be in charge of this, but we can't get a hold of him."

"Tony?"

"A friend." He eyed Steve and turned to them. "Anybody got a hold of him yet?"

"No, not yet." Colonel Rhodes looked up from his own screen and offered a dimmed half-smile. "The bastard's probably stopped in the middle of space for Starbucks." He tried to joke, but Maggie could see how deeply affected he was by his disappearance, the emotional toll it was taking on him and his conscience.

"That is if he survived."

Rhodes' mug shattered against the cold hard floor, and he turned towards him. "Dammit, Steve."

"We need to be realistic here, it's been two weeks and we haven't heard of him yet."

Maggie's heartbeat halted as she stood up and stopped in front of the man. She stared at his eyes for a moment, in defiance, and when she was about to say something in anger, she saw something buried in them. Guilt. He felt guilt, and it was slowly eating him away. Guilt of something past, of secrets kept, but also guilt of inaction, of not doing enough to protect his friend. Because regardless of how he decided to act, Steve saw that man as his friend.

"You're only saying that because it's easier on your conscience to think that he's dead than that he's alone somewhere in the universe and it's your fault." She stopped him before he interrupted her. "Because you like to tell yourself that you offered your help if need be, but you know deep inside that you didn't fight hard enough for him."

"What do you know?"

"Whatever your eyes tell me." Maggie maintained her daring stance. "And they're telling me a whole lot."

They stood against each other for a while, both in equal degrees of boldness and recklessness. She felt someone jerk her by the forearm, and she found Natasha scrutinizing her own eyes, looking for something as well. She felt intimidated by the woman.

"Banner, we should head to the lab."

* * *

Maggie was connected to the brain scan machine again, to her dismay, as she pulled at the bottom of her t-shirt. It wasn't that she was particularly uncomfortable around medical equipment, it was Natasha's piercing look and Bruce's tension that was making her uneasy. And she was sure that this wasn't all about whatever they thought they could find in her brain. For whatever reason, there seemed to be quite a lot of underlying feelings within the team, and it all seemed messy. She didn't like messy.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Well, the things you figured out," Natasha sat down in front of her as she directed a look of seriousness at her, "aren't easy to find, even through interrogation."

"What are you saying then, that I'm a psychic?" she snorted.

"No, psychics read minds, you-"

"It seemed like you were reading his soul." Bruce interrupted. "If souls were to exist. So you're either an excellent body language reader with a lot of luck, or there's something else going on."

"I'm just really perceptive."

"That's what we want to measure." He eyed his computer screen and signaled to Natasha to connect the remaining electrodes to herself as well. "The EEG should tell us more."

"Why is she connected as well? And what is an EEG?" Maggie's confusion grew with each passing moment, as did her uneasiness. She knew she had agreed to be a lab rat, but she didn't expect them to find anything. What if they did find something? Something out of the ordinary?

"More variables and Electroencephalogram." He loosely explained. "I need something to measure you up against, or to know if you have an effect on people. And this thing," Bruce pushed his chair closer towards her. "measures the electrical impulses in your brain. It will tell me where and what kind of activity is going on."

"But we already did this one." She looked back at her memory, this was one of the first trials they had performed.

"Yes, but we didn't account for external impulses, so we're gonna try it out." Bruce felt her nervousness and gently squeezed her hand, offering a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, you've seen this doesn't hurt."

Maggie eyed him cautiously and decided to trust him. He pulled away to sit behind the computer and gave them a thumbs up to start. Her eyes shifted from him to Natasha.

"Try to read her, like you did with Steve." he instructed. "Keep your eyes on her as long as you can."

She focused on the woman in front of her, her unreadable eyes. Something told her that it wouldn't be as easy to read her as it was with the Captain. He had his guard down, emotionally speaking, so his eyes held more truth. This woman's eyes were like a robot, void and calculative. There was nothing to read there.

"I'm getting nothing." With an exasperated sigh, Maggie was close to giving up when she had barely started.

"Try harder." Bruce encouraged her.

Rolling her eyes, she resumed what was going to be a fruitless enterprise; Natasha was as closed as a bank's safe. Struggling to get past the iciness, she noticed there was a veil in her eyes. It wasn't that she was closed off, something was closing her. She pressed harder against the veil, losing touch with her surroundings. There were only her inscrutable eyes. There was something hidden behind that veil, she only had to push past it.

With a strength she didn't know she had, Maggie finally found what she was looking for.

"You see in red. Mostly." She struggled to catch her breath. Reading Natasha was taking more energy than she knew she had. "You're angry, but you don't know what you're angry at so you direct it at everything. But you keep it under control. It's your drive. Because if you don't control it, if you don't spread it and it finds a single target, it will destroy it and your last bit of conscience."

Natasha pushed at her, ripping the electrodes from both their heads. She wrestled with the chair until she found the armrest again and tightly gripped it. Her breathing was uneven, and she looked disheveled for the first time since she'd met her. With bulging eyes, the woman tried to read her back, but she could only find surprise and bewilderment. The girl was just as worked up as she was.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know." The beginnings of grief and anguish were in her voice.

"But I do." Bruce looked up from the screen, a smile of amusement upon his face.

They were finally closer to figuring out the mystery that was Maggie Bellamy.

* * *

 _Here's the next chapter! Let me know what you think of the direction the story is taking._

 _I know it's a bit angsty right now, but I think it would take a bit of time for the team to begin to heal after everything that's happened to them. And Tony better find a way to get his ass back home. Good things are in the horizon though!_

 _The next chapter will be posted at the beginning of the coming week._


	7. Chapter 6 - Eventful

They were all gathered in the lab, surrounding Bruce as he tried to explain as best as he could what they had just found out. Colonel Rhodes and the Captain had arrived as soon as they received notice that they had made a breakthrough.

"Okay, it's important to understand that this is mostly theoretical." The doctor rubbed his temple and skimmed through the EEG's readings. "I mean, I do have some tangible results, but this is a hypothesis."

"Get to the point, Banner." Rhodes gently gestured.

Taking in a deep breath, he threw a reassuring look at Maggie, telling her with his eyes that regardless of the outcome of this conversation he was on her side. And this meant a lot to her. In her status as an outsider, and also after losing her previous life, she found a mentor and a rock on the doctor. He had always reached down to her with kindness and understanding.

"There is something going on with her, with her brain to be more specific. I see here similar readings to the ones Wanda ha- had." Clearing his throat, he resumed. "See, this is her brain scan when she was 'reading' Nat. These areas," he pointed out, "light up like a Christmas tree in December."

"Which means…" Steve indicated for him to continue.

"Well, such high activity is not seen in any living thing we've studied yet, except- you know." His speech was accelerating considerably. "And this was due to Hydra's experiments with the Mind Stone, so this tells us that it's got to be related to some extent to one of the Stones. Of course, one would think that it would _be_ the Mind Stone because, well, it's like she can read minds, but we've kept our eyes on that one, and something just doesn't read right, so it must be one of the other ones. But which one? Can't be the time or space ones, wouldn't make sense, and it's not like she's altering the fabric of reality so that one's out too. Should be the mind stone if she's reading minds, except-"

"Except," the Captain interrupted Bruce's babbling, "she's not reading minds, she's reading souls."

Silence stretched across the room, and Maggie was caught by surprise. Stones? Experiment? Mind reading? What were these people going on about? As far as she was concerned, she had arrived to an extremely technologically advanced African country, that dabbled in space trouble or something similar. She had heard them talk about it, in hushed whispers. Perhaps they were so advanced that they were also experimenting with people's minds, like the Mk Ultra thing, and thought she was collateral damage. Oh God, what if they were the ones that brought her here? What if they created some sort of inter-dimensional rift and teleported her to this place? Were they responsible for what had happened to her? Many questions were suffocating Maggie, the room spinning around.

"What did you do to me?" She pointed accusingly. "What. did. you. do?"

Bruce raised his arms to try and calm her down but Maggie swatted his hands away. "We didn't do anything to you, trust us. We're as surprised as you are."

"Something tells me you aren't! The hell are you going on about mind control and stones and mystic powers. First you imprison and interrogate me, then you poison me, and now what?" She cut him accusingly.

"How much do you know?" Natasha got closer to her, and she knew that this would be in order to restrain her if she failed to keep her cool.

"How much do I know about what?"

* * *

Nothing made sense. They talked about entities of other planets, magical stones that granted powers of some sort, intergalactic civilizations in complete chaos. And not only that, these people weren't exactly normal either. They were something straight out of a comic book. She thought Shuri was joking when she mentioned the superhero thing, but she thought it was more of a 'extraordinary people working for good' and not so much 'people with extraordinary _powers_ working for good'. What had she just gotten into?

"Maggie?"

"I need to think." She pushed past Bruce and made it through the doors of the lab.

Wandering around the palace, she found that what she really needed was fresh air and a quiet place to think and get back to the ground again. With swift steps, Maggie made it to one of the higher levels' balconies, and dropped against the edge with abandon. Her legs dangling in the air, the only thing keeping her safe was the metallic railing, and this gave her some comfort. She was floating but grounded, and in that moment she realised that was what she needed. With her face against the iron bars, she let the breeze play with the loose strands of hair.

This was impossible at best. There really was no way to rationalize what had happened to her, what was going on around her. Was she in a coma and dreaming things after a bad plane crash? That seemed like the most probable answer, the last thing she remembered before arriving to this place was losing control of the plane. But something was pressing at the back of her mind, telling her that this was real, or as real as her previous life had been. She had too many questions, questions that she didn't even know how to phrase.

"Feels like someone dropped a bucket of ice cold water over you, huh?"

Maggie lifted up her eyes and found someone she didn't expect. The Captain. He made a sign as if asking for permission, and sat down next to her after she nodded. Talking about being uncomfortable.

"For me it was quite the opposite, as if I'd been been frozen and someone took me out of the ice." He smiled to himself, something she thought was uncharacteristic of the surly man. "Literally."

" _What does that even mean_?" She muttered to herself. " _It doesn't even make any sense._ "

"What I mean to say is…" He turned to look at her, pity in his eyes. She did not like that, she preferred when he looked at her like he was irritated. "I know what you're going through, I know it's hard. But the sooner you pull your head out of the water and start swimming, the better for everyone."

"Ah, so that's it!" She exclaimed, shoving him lightly with her shoulder. "You're worried about the team, not me." He furrowed his brows at her and she got it as a cue that he did not get her humor. "I was beginning to worry you were a shape-shifting alien or something, your personal concern is very uncharacteristic."

He rolled his eyes at her, certainly amused, as he pushed himself off the ground. He gave her one last look, this time pity was out of his eyes and replaced by something else.

"Keep your head above the water, Bellamy."

" _What is it with this man and water?_ "

* * *

"Have you finished packing?"

Bruce was leaning against the door-frame of her guest room, impatiently waiting for her.

She grimaced at him and shoved the bedside lamp on the suitcase they had provided her, raising her shoulders at him.

"What do you want me to pack, doc?" She exclaimed. "The bed sheets?"

"Some clothes would be nicer, I think." He reprimanded her with a knowing smile.

She threw herself over the mattress in defeat and raised an arm at him.

"I know, I know, sorry." Sitting up, she let one leg swing over the border. "But what do I even have to pack? My old clothes and the plane's seat."

"No, we threw the later one out."

She smiled at him, letting her friend know she appreciated his cheerful disposition. She had been told that morning that they would be heading out back to the US, to their headquarters, to try and regroup and think things over. Which meant that she would be leaving with them as well, as the doctor had kindly indicated. It was hard convincing the Wakandan government to let her go, but with Shuri over their command, they came to the agreement that she would be supervised at all times. She wasn't free just yet.

But she appreciated the help. She knew it hadn't been easy on the Princess. Or Queen. When she came back to the ritual, she had come back victorious but defeated. She didn't get the details, but it hadn't been an easy ceremony. Regardless, she was happy her friend seemed to be adjusting to her new role, regardless of the looks of disapproval from some of the other members of the court. But she had to recognize she would miss her; after all, she was one of the two people who seemed to like her.

"No need to look so gloomy."

The voice surprised her, seeing her friend pass through Bruce as she went to stand with her.

"I know, right? Because I am usually a beacon of light."

Shuri brushed it off with a laugh and sat beside her, her arm resting over Maggie's shoulders.

"I have something for you, something I would like you to have." She leaned closer to her. "Something the Captain is not going to like."

"Oh, good, that's the best kind." She waved at Bruce as the man decided to take his leave. "Please, tell me."

"I want you to have the ship."

She wanted her to have the recipient of months of hard work? The spacecraft she had designed, the one Maggie had helped with in the simulator? Although she was tempted to accept without any more concerns, she needed to be sure of what she was being offered.

"Are you sure I can have it?"

"As sure as it's mine, and I can decide who to give it to." She shrugged it off. "Besides, it's already calibrated to you, after all those hours of simulations. And every ship needs a captain."

She warmly smiled at the girl. Her friend knew exactly what she was offering and still she was giving it to her, proudly. She couldn't help but throw her arms around her and laugh, hugging her tightly. She was going to miss her.

"Come on, don't you want to see your new ride?"

They rushed through the corridors back to Shuri's workshop, which was filled with the most incredible technological advances, as usual. As they passed through endless shiny and extremely expensive toys, they reached what looked like a small hangar, a silver gleam waiting for them.

"I can't believe it."

"I know."

A small spacecraft rested against the floor, it's frame slender and it's surface sleek. It was mainly the color of midnight, a beautiful dark blue that seemed to hold a glimmer to it, along with silver accents. It was small, compact, it could only fit one person, two if need arose. The girl signaled at her to get closer and Maggie couldn't help but to run her hands along it's exterior. She noticed that as she dragged her hand the color changed to a lighter blue, following the path she was making.

"Heat sensitive paint."

She absentmindedly nodded, pressing both hands against the aircraft this time, staring at the hand-prints she had left behind.

"If you're losing it over the paint job wait until you see what's inside."

The top retracted almost soundlessly, and she could barely see the control center standing on her tiptoes.

"Oh no, the Captain is not going to like this." Maggie whispered in awe.

"Not one bit." The girl smiled proudly.

* * *

 _Sorry for the delay! Life got in the way, but I'm back and with fresh ideas after watching Endgame twice. I'll try and adapt the story-line to Endgame as much as possible, but since I started writing this straight after Infinity War came out there'll be some differences._

 _Also, since 5 years pass in between, it doesn't make sense that this is a Peter Parker x OC story because of the age difference. So I'm thinking of changing it, maybe to Steve or Thor, let me know if you guys have any preferences! If not, I'm thinking that people that were dusted continue aging, making Peter around 23 years old when he comes back._

 _As always, let me know what you thought of the chapter!_


	8. Chapter 7 - Homecoming

"Absolutely not."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, restraining himself in an effort to look calm and authoritative. Rhodes was standing next to him, the same look of disapproval on his face.

"But it's a gift."

"You don't seem to grasp that you're not exactly in terms of negotiating."

The girl tried hard not to pout, and stand her ground, leaning over the ship protectively. She knew there was no way of winning this argument, not this time. And she had to agree with them for once. This was an extremely expensive and advanced spacecraft, one of a kind for the time being, and in the hands of a nineteen year old stranger. Not even the good doctor could be on her side this time.

"So what will you do with it then?"

"It's confiscated."

"By who?" Shuri interceded for her. "The ship is calibrated to her brain, none of you could even start it."

"It will stay in our premises then, out of hand for the time being."

"Does that mean I can take it out for a ride when I'm twenty-one?"

The Captain glared at her momentarily, before his features softened.

"Bellamy, you can't expect us to let you have this weapon." His tone was subdued now, almost soft. "You don't know what is at stake, kid."

Maggie held his eyes for a moment before looking to the ground in defeat. She knew they didn't trust her, not yet. They had only known her for little over two weeks, they were just now starting to warm up to her. But there was a big divide between being cordial and even friendly to trusting someone with hyper-advanced technology. She would have to wait then.

"Come on, let's get this thing on the carrier and go home." Bruce softly grabbed her by the shoulders.

Her bag was already in the massive aircraft's hold, she only needed to put one feet in front of the other, go up the runway, and sit down. And still she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had just begun to feel comfortable in Wakanda, and going into the unknown again, after so little time in between, felt extremely rushed. She felt her gut pull at her, dreading what was to come. Trying to soothe herself, she wrapped the jacket against her tightly, standing her ground. She was almost prepared to take that first step when a hand rested against her upper arm.

"You know you'll have to visit once in a while, right?" Shuri smiled kindly at her. "Not because I want you to or anything, the Wakandan government requires it."

"How terrible then, huh?"

The girls laughed with each other, relishing in the last moments together before they would have to say farewell. The princess had a kingdom to run, and she… she just had to follow the Captain and his troop.

* * *

They arrived to their Headquarters in the early hours of dusk. The Widow had been waiting for them, travelling one week ahead in order to assess the situation better. When she made her way down the runway, she couldn't help but to stare in awe of the massive structure in front of her. It looked like it was specially designed for cutting edge technology. With sure steps, she followed the team to one of the entrances, after helping unpack the aircraft. She grasped at her bag hoping it would give her some sense of security, hoping to get through all of this as soon as possible and just find a bed and lie down.

"Bruce, you need to see this." Natasha urged him to follow along, the rest of them following after them.

When they reached what seemed to be a lab, the Captain turned around and instructed her to sit and wait in the hallway, as he closed the door behind him. Secret meeting. Okay. To her defense, she had to say that she did wait for a while, but the need to eat overtook her and she decided to take off and explore in search of a fridge or a vending machine, whatever she found first. She wandered through the deserted hallways for a while, curious as to why a building so big was so empty.

She would occasionally peek into the rooms, seeing mostly offices, and what seemed to be a gym. The design of the architecture reminded her of an airport, with its long and wide hallways, although one with no passengers. It looked almost eerie. She was very close to calling it quits and returning to where they had left her when she doubled around the corner and found what she was looking for. A coffee break room. With renewed excitement, she rushed to the cupboards in search of something to eat, anything really. Mugs, mugs, some dishes. It took her a couple of minutes, but after climbing on the small kitchen counter she reached the higher levels and made what to her was an amazing discovery. She was about to grab one of the bags of chips when a bright haze of light thundered from the outside, making her lose her balance and falling to the ground. That was very close.

Hurriedly, she decided it was best to run back to the group, not before hastily grabbing a bag and opening it. With her mouth full, she ran through the dark corridors, sometimes even blindly due to the lack of light. She should have waited to open the bag. But she was starving. Multitasking.

Skidding through the halls, she finally made it back to the lab, the doors wide open and a new figure standing in the middle of the room. It was a woman in a blue, red, and gold uniform, with a strange glow about her. She stopped like a deer in the headlights once she locked her eyes on her.

"Bellamy!" The Captain exclaimed exasperated, then stopped on his tracks when he saw what she was holding. "Where did you get that?" He shook his head as he decided there were more important issues to focus on. "You know what? I thought I ask you to stay outside."

"Who is this one?"

The strange woman circled around her, evaluating her. Maggie stood as straight as an arrow, straighter than she ever had, in hopes she would lose interest and let her go. This new visitor was unsettling, and she couldn't put her finger on why. The woman stood in front of her once again and smiled self-confidently, reaching inside her bag and grabbing a handful of chips.

"Maggie, please." The doctor ushered her. "Wait outside."

"Gladly." She went around to turn and leave when she remembered why she had been running. "By the way, I think there's a meteorite or something. Or a storm."

"We saw, please close the door after you."

"Why can't she stay?" The woman countered, intrigued.

"Because I have a bedtime." She started to turn the door's handle when the stranger grasped her arm.

Suddenly, the room erupted in a flash of light that disappeared as soon as it arrived. There was a sound, like the one of magnets calling to each other, so loud it almost made her ears bleed. Stumbling, she tried to regain her balance but failed, dropping unceremoniously to the ground. When she opened her eyes, the woman was staring right through her, her face inscrutable.

"No, I don't have time for this today." Maggie dusted herself off as she stood from the ground. "I'm hungry, tired, and I just want to go to sleep."

As she turned around in order to leave where she came from, she noticed there was another unexpected guest standing in the room, next to the door she had just burst through. How she didn't notice him before was a mystery, as the stranger had to be one of the most imposing people she had ever met. His hair was cropped short, his demeanor ominous, like he wasn't someone to be trifled with. But what struck out the most were his eyes. One of them was bright blue, while the other was a warm brown. But there was nothing warm about this man. He seemed ready to go into battle, ready to kill. Like he had unfinished business. Certainly not someone you would like to get into a fight with.

And that's why she stepped back, as if stepping into a corner would take his heavy gaze off of her. But he seemed inescapable, as he followed suit and approached her, a primal feeling surrounding him. And he had an ax.

"Oh no."

That's all that could leave her mouth. She was paralyzed.

"Who are you?" He approached menacingly, raising his ax to the side of her face, the metal cold against her cheek.

"For the love of… Thor, stop it." Bruce rushed to his side, pulling the arm that was holding the weapon down. "She's with us."

His eyes softened momentarily, so quick it looked like lightning, before hardening again just as fast. He took a step back and offered her an apologetic smile, one of those that were so polite there was barely any emotion behind them.

"I'm Maggie." She held out her hand, a foolish gesture she soon regretted. Who offers to shake their hand to someone that moments ago was holding an ax against them?

To her surprise, he shook her hand, and with such care that it seemed to contradict everything about him. She had expected him to crush her.

"Thor Odinson."

* * *

They had excused her after giving the two new guests a rundown on everything they knew about her, both of them eyeing her with more curiosity than suspicion, which was refreshing for once. She had learned that Thor was an Asgardian, an alien of some sorts she thought, as he came from another planet. Carol, on the other hand, said she was from Earth, but she had a hard time actually believing that. She was definitely not normal. But she was nice to her, nicer than anyone here had been at first to her, and she appreciated it.

As to the strange reaction that had happened between them, they decided it was something for the next day. Regardless of the doctor's observation that nothing good would come from trying to rush things after a tiring day and long journey, she still couldn't grasp what had happened when the woman had grabbed her. She had felt a strong wave of something similar to electricity rushing through her, like hummingbirds trapped under her skin. And Carol had only smiled. Not with superiority, not with concern, not with curiosity. She had just smiled. But that was tomorrow's concern, Bruce had guaranteed her. They would think about it after a good night's rest.

After the introductions, Natasha had quickly shown her to what would be her room, advising her against leaving the premises before she left, as the whole building was being monitored, she assured her. As for her empty stomach, the bag of chips would have to suffice until the next morning. She didn't dare ask for anything else after the whole ordeal.

The room was relatively small but spacious at the same time, minimalist in design. It must have been a guest room. She laid on the bed, immediately feeling a sinking sensation that seemed to pull her against the mattress. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, the emotions of the whole day weighting on her.

Soon she was dreaming.

She welcomed the orange mist like an old friend, feeling its embrace around her as it twirled throughout her body, tingling her fingertips. It felt like a deep pressure, like she was far underwater, but it was reassuring. She felt calm.

He arrived soon after. Like always. The smile lit his face as he welcomed her back. He had been awfully alone, he complained. But it was alright now, she was there to keep him company. They talked for a long time about everything, about people she didn't know, places he hadn't been to. She knew there had also been some important exchange of information, but she couldn't remember what exactly. She had to find someone, someone important to him.

"Do you really have to go?" His brown eyes were sympathetic, but she knew how much he hated to be alone.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Well, you could try to stay longer."

She laughed. He knew how to make her feel better, even after she had to leave him behind. But she couldn't stay sleeping forever, she had to wake up.

"See you soon?"

"Every night."

* * *

 _Hope you liked this one! Thanks to everyone who weighed in on who to write this story about. The balance is tipping for Thor at the moment, so don't forget to leave a comment with the character you'd like to see Maggie with: Thor, Steve, or Peter (aging within the Soul Stone)._

 _I'll probably post the next chapter by the end of the week, and by then the decision will be finalized._

 _As always, feedback is loved and appreciated!_


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